PONDERAY — Nearly a year in the works, the area’s newest hotel is just a month a way from opening.

Construction on an 83-room Holiday Inn Express began last September on a plot of land just north of Slate’s Sports Bar and Grill. The hotel, which is being built by Sandpoint’s Klappenbach Contractors, is set to open in late July, according to Wendy Klappenbach.

Owned by Sandpoint Hospitality of Richland, Wash., the hotel will offer a number of state-of-the art amenities, including high-speed wireless Internet and an indoor saltwater swimming pool.

Klappenbach said she and her husband, Steve, are especially pleased that the majority of their workers and sub-contractors are from Bonner County, despite receiving bids from as far away as Boise.

Local workers from Woods Paving and Asphalt, Fogg Electrical, Will’s plumbing, Peak Sand and Gravel and more than 10 other local businesses stepped up to make the hotel a reality, Klappenbach said.

Despite working through another brutal North Idaho winter, Klappenbach said the construction process has been seamless.

“It was a long winter with the snow we had,” she said. “The month of December was quite a bit to take. We were right in the middle of framing and having to shovel snow, but we just kept going. We put our noses down and just kept working.”

Now that it’s nearly over, Klappenbach can reflect on one of the largest projects her company has worked on.

“It’s been a fun project and the owners have been great to work with,” she said. “Steve and I have had a blast, and it’s been wild and crazy working on this big of a project.”